Frog Buttress

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Frog Buttress is a rock climbing area situated near the town of Boonah, 100km SW of Brisbane, Australia. The cliffs are within Moogerah Peaks National Park, Mount French section, thus the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has ultimate control over the land. 'Frog' is perhaps the crown jewel of Queensland climbing.

The rock at Frog is composed of rhyolite, which manifests itself in many, many, cracks, corners and aretes. Over 80% of the routes at Frog are crack climbs with the cliff face reaching a height of over 40m in sections. Most of the cracks are smooth sided and parallel, necessitating the use of many spring loaded camming devices and efficient crack climbing technique.

There are now over 400 documented routes with grades ranging from 4 to 32 on the Ewbank Scale. The style of climbing is staunchly traditional using natural protection, with very few sport routes. There are bolts on faces and arêtes and in most cases climbers need to bring their own brackets. Top-roping is difficult due to the fragile clifftop and is considered somewhat unethical at this largely 'purist' crag. Historically, some climbs were initialled at the bottom for easy route-finding, although this practice is now discouraged.

Climbing is best in winter, as during the summer months it quickly becomes too hot to spend much time on the rock, and midday climbing is not recommended. A good strategy is to get in a morning climb, and then head off to the Dugandan Pub, about 9 kilometres away in Boonah, for food and beer.

There are (showerless) camping facilities above the cliff for around $5, but one needs to book ahead.

[edit] History

The area was first developed by the late Rick White and Chris Meadows in 1968. The first climb done at the cliff was Corner of Eden (21). The name "Frog Buttress" refers to some condom packets they found at the top - at the time "French Letters" was a common euphemism. Local climbers including White, Meadows, Ted Cais, Rob Strasezki and Ian Thomas ascended many routes over the next few years, often with the use of aid. Odin (19) was the testpiece, and Black Light (22) was a great achievement.

When Henry Barber invaded Australia in 1975, he arrived in Brisbane and missed his flight to Sydney. He spent his time making free ascents of many routes, and put up the crag classics Conquistador (21) and Child in Time (22). The locals were inspired by his free climbing talent, and repeated many of his routes in the next few years.

Bryden Allen and Tobin Sorenson visited in the late 1970s, and made some typically bold ascents.

Climbers from Victoria put up many harder routes in the 1980s. Brown Corduroy Trowsers (28) remains the outstanding hard trad route.

[edit] Routes

A striking aspect of Frog is that there are some climbs done there that are so incredibly hard and bold (read: death-falls) that they will only ever get ascents once in a blue moon if they ever do.

Easier routes for the newcomer include:

Witches Cauldron	17m	12	Nice easy lift-shaft.
Electric Mud	10m	13	A relaxing corner.
Shit Heap	10m	14	This is the route for jamming practice.
Theory	25m	14	A nice and varied longer route.
Electronic Flag	40m	14	A long pitch requiring varied technique.
Mechanical Prune	18m	15	An open chimney.

It is widely considered that the high quality routes lie in the 19 to 23 grade range. Most beginners will find 'easy' routes very hard for the grade, but at the low 20s up, most routes are quite reasonable for the grade.